Last Witch Standing

chapter 12



The Present

Earth



Candice watched the house from inside her van. She had a good idea of their schedule. The mother taught elementary school and was home by 4:00. The boy returned from Melville High School between 3:40 - 3:50. The father returned at 5:00. She needed to get the father alone. Alone and for a long time.

She turned the key and pulled away from the curb. She had parked the opposite way so she didn’t have to pass the house a second time. Beside her lay several maps. She didn’t need them, but explaining your presence to suspicious neighbors or police was much easier if you could pretend to be lost and had pulled over to check a map.

Back at her motel room that evening, she logged onto the Internet and went directly to Google Earth. Candice plugged in Dan’s work address, the NOAA station outside Melville, and studied the pictures. In-person surveillance would still be necessary, but the less she drove around, the safer she would be from discovery. Candice’s cover would not hold long should she be pulled over and questioned by the authorities.

The area behind the station was rocky and spotted with trees. That might be a safe approach, if she decided to corner the man there. She could park elsewhere and advance unseen on foot.

Candice took the portable cameras from the bag. If she set the cameras up the night before, she could link the feed to her tablet computer. This would allow her to avoid being surprised by any bystanders or coworkers in the area. She needed him isolated. Alone and quiet. He was a good man, stable in mind and character, but what she had to do would shake anyone.

The irony did not escape her: a former police detective, she would be posing as a police officer – a Federal Law Enforcement one at that. In the time since her arrival, she had forged credentials and set up an answering service with a programmed response, should the man decide to call the number on her card. However, she would have to meet him after 2:00 p.m. in case he insisted upon calling the real, listed number for the U.S. Marshals Service, in which case she could explain that her East Coast office closed at 5:00 p.m. Eastern Time.

The day’s purchases lay on the bed. First Candice took out the Nebo Redline Tactical Flashlight , 220 lumens, put in the batteries and tested it. Powerful and precise, the anodized aircraft-grade aluminum constructed light balanced perfectly in her hand. Smaller than the police-issue tactical light she left behind when she entered the world of the Mountain Witches, it would not do double duty as self-defense weapon. Given her circumstances, carrying a firearm unless she absolutely had to, would be foolish. Still, being entirely unarmed would also be unwise, so she had purchased some pepper spray and a Kubotan key ring. The Kubotan could be held in the fist and amplified the effect of any strike. Candice had trained with one at the police academy and knew its effectiveness.

She would sleep a couple of hours now, and go to the NOAA Station that night. If it looked like promising ground for a quiet, unnoticed approach, she would set out the cameras.

It was dark when she awoke. The bedside clock showed 7:57 p.m. That left two hours to outfit herself, drive to the station and find a secluded place up the road from it to park. Too early, and she ran the risk of running into late workers, too late and her very presence would be suspicious.

The traffic was light, and she made good time in the rented van. After exiting the freeway, she drove up and down the street several times. Next to the Melville Café stood a small strip mall. Candice parked there. She locked the door and set the alarm.

She was grateful for the training Queen Annalisse and the other Mountain Witches had provided. This instruction in stealth and awareness would have come in handy in many investigations from her police officer days. Now, it was essential for her task.

The walk to the station took longer than expected, but she was grateful for the exercise. She continued walking, past the station, observing it as she passed. The front gate was shut and locked, a keypad at the entrance for drivers to enter their passcode. She could get one of their codes with a careful placement of a camera overhead, but she would almost certainly end up on their surveillance video doing that.

Once past the station, she turned left into a nearby field. At the edge was the riverbank. If she circled back, she would be able to surveil the station from behind.

The moon lit the ground. Still, she was careful where she stepped, wary of potholes and rattlesnakes. Turning on her flashlight here would attract too much attention from passersby.

The NOAA station was encircled by a heavy metal fence topped with razor wire. Candice examined it for weaknesses. Windows from the office buildings faced the river; any intruder would be easily spotted from there. Too bad. She hadn’t thought she would find an easy way in, the Google Earth maps had made that clear, but still she was disappointed. The only safe way in would be the front gate. If her cover failed or her story not believed, and Dan Edwards called security, she could be trapped inside.

She paused. A teenage couple was making out on the opposite shore, fishing poles held upright on stands next to them. Candice continued on, as if she belonged there and was headed to a meeting or something.

The long walk back to her car would be refreshing. Candice missed jogging – particularly through the meadows and up the mountain paths in the Kingdome of the Mountain Witches. She missed Sophie running by her, pacing her stride to match Candice’s; the pure blue sky overhead, unmarred by pollution; the clear flowing water of the streams.

Why did Queen Annalisse choose me for this task? Is it because of my lack of earthly connections, the fact that I’m a childless spinster married to my work? Does the queen know something about me I don’t? It cannot simply be she wants to use, then discard, me – she doesn’t roll that way. Annalisse’s care for others and personal integrity is the reason so many were willing to follow her.

Candice reached her car and pulled back on the freeway. It would be risky, but she would have to go through the front gate with false credentials, and under pretext, to obtain a private meeting with Dan Edwards. Annalisse needed to know when he had been contacted and was on standby. Certain portions of the queen’s plan could not be set into motion until she knew Dan was on their side.